Chapter 374: Caught (Combined Three Parts)

Rongrong received orders from the Princess Consort and led a team, armed with Ruan Tianye’s ticket voucher, toward Ghost Witch Mountain.

But the Princess Consort’s maids all knew exactly how to carry out her commands.

Rongrong never actually went to “confront” Ruan Tianye, nor did she head straight for Ghost Witch Mountain.

Instead, she first took her group to Dongzhai Village and the other hamlets where traces of the Dragon Transformation Art had been left.

Several days had passed; some traces had been damaged.

Rongrong examined them with exceptional care.

In this regard, her ability surpassed Gao Wanli’s.

Had all traces remained intact, Rongrong likely would have detected signs of forgery.

But now, every trace had become “ambiguous.”

This made Rongrong suspect that these two individuals—especially the one who had cultivated the Dragon Transformation Art—had indeed gone to Ghost Witch Mountain afterward.

So she led her team quietly into Ghost Witch Mountain.

Though they held Ruan Tianye’s issued ticket voucher, they knew nothing of Ghost Witch Mountain.

They entered the mountains through another village called Datianpo.

The team spent ten taels of silver to hire a bold young man from the village as their guide.

Datianpo Village had fertile land; every household seemed prosperous.

More than half the homes in the village were bright, spacious houses with blue bricks and red tiles.

Dozens of oxen grazed in the fields.

The children running and playing around the village wore clothes that were still intact.

Unlike the ragged children of ordinary villages.

The young man hired as guide was named A Chong—of average height and build, neither fat nor thin.

His face always wore a warm, amiable smile that naturally inspired affection.

Besides Rongrong, the team included several female cultivators.

Female cultivators were rarely as bizarre as Ji Shuangqiu.

How many girls would willingly train themselves into towering, iron-clad giants?

So female cultivators typically had slender figures and beautiful faces.

Add to that Rongrong, the princess-like center of attention… Since joining the team, A Chong couldn’t help but sneak glances at the girls.

Rongrong and the others ignored him.

Just a boy’s infatuation—he’d only ever seen crude village girls in his small hamlet; now he saw them, and to him they were fairies.

But he could only look—he’d never win the attention of any woman in the group.

A Chong was still shy; when caught staring, he’d blush and quickly look away.

To ease the awkwardness, he’d hastily bring up a topic: “Our village has fertile soil; if you work hard, the land feeds us—we never lack food or drink.

But most of us, like me, also act as guides for merchants when we’re free.

When they enter the mountains to collect goods, without us leading them, they get lost easily, and the mountain villages won’t deal with them—they might kill them, skin them, and butcher them like pigs…”

He was accompanied by the team’s deputy, a Sixth-Rank Spirit Cultivator named Li Shu.

Li Shu frowned at this: “They eat people?”

A Chong laughed: “Are you gentlemen here for the first time in Ghost Witch Mountain?”

Li Shu nodded.

The ticket voucher they held did indeed belong to the Xiang Prince’s mansion.

But usually, this voucher wasn’t kept in the mansion—it was rented out.

There were always mercenaries who took the voucher to Ghost Witch Mountain to trade.

Afterward, these mercenaries might receive only scraps; the real profits went to the Xiang Prince’s mansion and other powerful elites.

This time, because they came to Zhan City, the Princess Consort brought the voucher along.

But no one from the mansion had ever entered Ghost Witch Mountain.

A Chong whispered: “Gentlemen, be extremely careful—the villages inside the mountains are nothing like those outside.

The villagers aren’t demons… but they’re just as vicious!”

Li Shu nodded; he’d vaguely heard such rumors before.

Away from the Princess Consort’s side, Rongrong towered above all, refusing to interact with common folk like A Chong; she left all logistics to Li Shu.

This team was formidable, and with their hidden ticket voucher, they could practically run rampant beyond Guanghuo Street.

But they were profoundly unfamiliar with Zhan City and Ghost Witch Mountain.

Especially Ghost Witch Mountain.

A Chong’s lies were easy to expose.

Since Xu Yuan set up an office at Qihetai Town, the mountain villages no longer received any merchants.

All their mountain goods were traded through Wangxiang Village and the office.

In exchange for daily necessities.

No merchants had entered Ghost Witch Mountain since before the New Year.

The villages beneath Ghost Witch Mountain… held no good souls.

Just like Qihetai Town—anyone who could survive there had some “methods.”

Qihetai Town was actually better off, since it bordered the imperial road and had many ways to earn a living.

But villages like Datianpo, relying solely on farming… barely scraped by; how could they build houses or buy oxen?

They naturally had other “livelihoods.”

A Chong led the team into the mountains, following a long valley for seven or eight li, then climbing over a ridge.

A small river flowed beneath the ridge.

The water was clear, murmuring softly.

But A Chong signaled everyone to be cautious.

They had already disturbed the river’s demons.

Suddenly, dozens upon dozens of water gourds rose from the river.

Round, smooth, a sickly pale blue, they crowded the water thickly.

Then they all flipped over at once.

These weren’t water gourds—they were the skulls of ghost infants!

Their eyes glowed cold, dark red; fangs jutted from their lips, staring up at everyone on the ridge, sending chills down their spines!

A Chong led them carefully around the side.

Above the ridge, a sparrow flapped its wings as it flew by—but its movements were stiff.

Yet neither A Chong nor Li Shu noticed.

The corpse-sparrow swiftly flew toward Guanghuo Street.

It chirped frantically, reporting its discovery to Tian Jing.

These corpse-sparrows were now Tian Jing’s subordinates.

After relocating to Ghost Witch Mountain, one of them kept trying to persuade the dragon to return and seek revenge.

After repeated contacts, the whole flock ended up siding with Tian Jing.

They were never strong even in Xiao Yushan; in Ghost Witch Mountain, they were constantly bullied.

They desperately needed a protector.

Tian Jing saw their usefulness and used a mix of kindness and intimidation; the corpse-sparrows submitted obediently.

Rongrong’s team entered the mountains later than Xu Yuan, because they first investigated Dongzhai Village.

Tian Jing and Xu Yuan were outside Guanghuo Street, near Gaojia Village.

Yesterday, after Xu Yuan entered the mountains and communicated with Tian Jing, Tian Jing told Xu my lord: “I’ve built you a treehouse, for your future stays in the mountains.”

Xu Yuan hadn’t paid it much mind and followed along.

The treehouse stood between Gaojia Village and Guanghuo Street.

In the future, when Xu Yuan came to Guanghuo Street to meet them, he could stay here.

Gaojia Village was still too far.

Then Xu Yuan saw the so-called “treehouse”—or rather, it should be called: Tree-Top Cloud Palace!

You, Tian Jing, with your broad brow and noble features, can be a sycophant too.

After absorbing the root-hairs, Tian Jing had been deeply uneasy.

He feared Xu my lord might see him again and instantly strike him down as a demon.

This wasn’t paranoia—most of the Three Courts of the Strange would kill him on sight, seeing what he’d become.

So Tian Jing racked his brains and came up with this plan.

Using his newly acquired abilities, he shaped several century-old trees into a natural forest palace.

Of course, it paled beside the imperial palaces of the Ming Dynasty.

But it had over a dozen rooms.

He even took a scale from the dragon and hung it above the main gate.

No demon in the mountains would ever dare climb up and harass the place.

Unless the dragon vanished from Ghost Witch Mountain.

After all, when Xu Yuan enters the mountains and stays here at night, isn’t that more comfortable than the huts of mountain runners or places like the “Shenniang Shrine”?

The two were drinking tea in Shudanyun Palace—Tian Jing had specially acquired from Guanghuo Street some things he considered “elegant,” placing them here for Master Xu.

For instance, some tribute teas from the Huangming court.

On Guanghuo Street, these tribute teas are hard currency.

Because anyone seeking Master Ruan Tian’s favor must have this item.

But giving this to Master Xu clearly shows Tian Jing still hasn’t figured out Master Xu’s tastes.

You’d be better off giving him silver directly.

Or perhaps… arrange a few beautiful female ghosts in Shudanyun Palace to add fragrance and charm.

When the Corpse Sparrows reported in, the two immediately set out.

Corpse Sparrows led the way through the sky.

This group of Corpse Sparrows worked in teams: some kept watch over Rongrong’s party, constantly relaying messages to Tian Jing’s side: where they had reached.

Xu Yuan noticed one of the Corpse Sparrows looked familiar.

It was the one that had long insisted the Dragon and the Ghost Queen were “heaven-matched.”

It fumed in indignation, unable to understand how the Dragon and its subordinates could consort with a monster like Xu Yuan!

But it alone could not sway the situation, and was driven away by the others—so it had no choice but to help.

If it refused, it feared being driven out by the rest.

In Ghost Witch Mountain, a lone Corpse Sparrow with no patron was little more than a mouthful of mosquito meat.

Tian Jing found it amusing and said to Master Xu on the way: “There’s a trade in that village: they lure outsiders into the mountains, feed them to the evil spirits, then collect the leftover valuables.”

Xu Yuan smiled too: “One hides malicious intent, the other pretends to be a pig to eat a tiger—let’s see who outsmarts whom!”

They moved quickly and arrived near the mountain ridge two hours later.

In the small river, a dense cluster of ghost-infant heads floated to the surface.

Xu Yuan instantly spotted the “familiar infant.”

The ghost-infant had just flipped its face toward Tian Jing and Xu Yuan when it immediately dove back under, sinking without hesitation into the riverbed.

The sparse fetal hairs on these ghost-infants were tangled together, forming a single mass.

While the others lifted their heads, this one plunged violently into the river.

The formation broke apart.

Xu Yuan smiled, released the beast-tendon rope, and wrapped it around the ghost-infant, lifting it up.

“Wuwa—, Wuwa—”

The ghost-infant wailed loudly.

Their wailing was one of their most potent supernatural arts.

The cries pierced the soul like sharp blades.

But this time, the ghost-infants were truly crying…

The beast-tendon rope pulled the first one out of the water—and then pulled up a string of ghost-infants.

All the ghost-infants began wailing.

And all were truly crying.

Most were eighth-rank; the first one Xu Yuan pulled out had risen to seventh-rank recently, having gained experience from “traveling far and wide.”

It was the leader of this river’s ghost-infants.

The others didn’t know Xu Yuan, but they all clearly sensed the beast-tendon rope’s power—fifth-rank.

Unable to fight, unable to flee, all they could do was cry.

The leader ghost-infant was brought before Master Xu.

It wept uncontrollably, tears pouring like two spouts attached to its eyes.

Xu Yuan pointed at Tian Jing: “From now on, listen to him.”

“Or I’ll crack open your little skull.”

“Understood?”

The ghost-infant leader nodded frantically, leaving afterimages.

Its huge head on a thin neck made one fear it might snap its own neck.

Only then did Xu Yuan release his grip, tossing them back into the river.

Tian Jing noted the river’s location; he would return after this matter was settled to fully subdue the ghost-infants.

The great evils of Guanghuo Street paid little heed to other evils in the mountains.

But the Dragon and Xu Yuan needed these “hounds.”

Corpse Sparrows controlled the sky; ghost-infants controlled the rivers.

They would gather all intelligence within the mountains.

…

A Chong led Rongrong’s group around several more domains of evil spirits.

He acted like a professional guide.

In conversation with Li Shu, he gradually felt he had earned their trust.

So A Chong said: “We’re close. I’ll take you to Yaquan Village and introduce you to the village’s mountain runner—he’ll guide you to Guanghuo Street.”

“Good,” Li Shu replied.

After walking several more li, they passed through a forest.

Ahead rose a tall, pitch-black cliff.

Beneath the cliff, a spring had pooled into a small pond.

A small village, enclosed by wooden walls, appeared before them.

A Chong smiled: “We’re here.”

The village had about a dozen households; the old mountain runner was a middle-aged man with a limp and a scarred face.

He was extremely wary of outsiders, but with A Chong’s recommendation, he agreed to help—on one condition: two hundred taels of silver, all exchanged for salt and ironware.

A Chong grinned and offered to help—but demanded a fee for his trouble.

Li Shu gave him ten extra taels, then handed over the two hundred taels, instructing him to buy salt and ironware the next day and deliver them to the village.

But the old mountain runner frowned coldly: “I won’t act until I have the goods.”

A Chong looked troubled: “If I leave now, I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Li Shu glanced at Rongrong: “Then we’ll have to spend the night in the village.”

Rongrong reluctantly agreed.

A Chong took the silver and left immediately, promising to return no later than noon tomorrow.

The old mountain runner added coldly: “Staying overnight in the village costs extra.”

Li Shu didn’t care about such small sums and agreed readily.

The villagers all looked strange, their houses crude and crooked.

As dusk fell, the village gate closed.

Li Shu arranged for everyone to settle in.

In the village center stood a large house—the best in the village.

Li Shu intended to put Rongrong there for the night, but the old mountain runner refused outright: “This house never hosts outsiders.”

“We’ll pay more…”

“Non-negotiable!”

Li Shu shook his head and gave up.

After everyone was settled, Li Shu sternly warned all: “No trouble tonight!”

But after dark, the scent of wine and meat drifted from the big house.

Then village men began drifting in, two or three at a time.

Laughter and noise echoed from inside.

Nearby houses, occupied by Li Shu’s men, were close enough to hear.

A few listened closely and soon realized: it was gambling.

Among them, several were habitual gamblers.

Listening, they grew restless; then their cravings intensified.

They forgot Li Shu’s warning and slipped inside quietly.

At first cautious, but after a few rounds—with wins and losses—they relaxed.

Just as they were enjoying themselves, the door was kicked open.

Li Shu walked in, face grim.

The gamblers froze, grabbed the silver and coins on the table, and tried to hide them behind them.

But the moment their hands touched the money, villagers seized them.

Li Shu scanned the entire gambling den, snorted coldly, and approached his men: “Open your dog eyes—look closely at what you’re gambling with.”

The men suddenly felt dazed; when they looked again, the silver and coins had changed.

They were drenched in blood, mixed with hearts, livers, and lungs!

Then they felt searing pain; looking down, they saw their chests had been torn open—some missing hearts, others missing lungs…

All of it’s on that table!

They were utterly stunned—I just pulled out silver coins, but now these things are in my hand!

[23] “Uncle Li, save me…”

“Uncle Li, save me…”

The men screamed and collapsed, blood gushing from their mouths.

The surrounding villagers instantly turned their faces cold as vengeful ghosts!

They stood rigid and grim, staring at them with lifeless eyes.

Not a trace of living breath remained on them.

Uncle Li said coldly: “Bring my people back to life, and I’ll let this night’s incident pass without punishment!”

“Gah-gah-gah…” A strange laugh echoed; the standing villagers shifted like carved statues, parting to reveal a passage.

The old mountain guide stepped out from behind.

He had transformed into a demonic entity resembling a humanoid wild boar.

“You entered my domain and still think you can walk out alive?” the demon sneered. “Place another bet. Win, and you leave. Lose, and you leave behind something of yourself—just like them!”

Uncle Li’s face darkened as he pulled out Ruan Tianye’s permit from his robe: “Blind dog, can’t you read?”

The demon stared, stunned, then glared at Uncle Li with bitter resentment: “Fine. I’ll let you go.”

“But the things those few lost to me still belong to me!”

Uncle Li roared: “Dare you defy the orders of that one?”

The demon jerked his head up, twin curved fangs slicing arcs through the air: “You didn’t present your permit earlier—so even if that one came here, he couldn’t fault me!”

Uncle Li shook his head with a bitter laugh: “I was going to spare your life. Now you’ve chosen death.”

…

Xu Yuan and Tian Jing watched from a distance.

During the day, they had seen Rong Rong’s group follow A Chong into the foul, mist-shrouded cliffside—the massive wild boar den.

Tian Jing said: “This demon’s illusions are formidable.”

Xu Yuan nodded: Even if Fu Zhongjiu himself used ‘Dragon Spits Mist,’ he might not surpass this demon’s art.

Xu Yuan turned and walked away: “Go prepare. We act tomorrow.”

…

Yesterday evening, A Chong returned to the village and made plans with a few close friends to enter the mountains together today.

Those men were generous with their coins—today promised great gains!

At first light, they slung their baskets and hurried into the mountains with eager steps.

They moved swiftly, arriving at the wild boar den in just over an hour.

The vast cave was pitch-black and utterly silent.

“Heh! They must’ve all ended up in the demon’s belly.”

“Be careful,” A Chong warned. “The Boar Lord eats well and sleeps deeply—he hates being woken. Move quietly.”

As the group reached the cave entrance, A Chong suddenly screamed, looking down to see a bloody knife tip protruding from his chest!

The others were startled—but it was already too late.

Someone suddenly emerged from the darkness, slashed with a long blade, and sent a head flying high…

Those who had lost their hearts and livers last night harbored the deepest hatred for A Chong—and struck with particular cruelty.

The blade pierced A Chong’s chest, then twisted several times to ensure his death was agonizing.

Their hearts and livers were returned to them; the team’s alchemist treated them and managed to save their lives—but the process was excruciating, and their cultivation levels had dropped.

Then Uncle Li stepped out, hands behind his back, inhaled sharply through his nostrils, and drew the souls of A Chong and the others into himself.

“Ignorant fools!” Uncle Li remarked.

A Chong’s soul was released again and interrogated rigorously.

He never imagined these people were so ruthless!

Uncle Li easily extracted the truth: A Chong had no idea how to reach Guanghuo Street.

But A Chong did know the way to the nearest mountain village: Yueping Village.

Rong Rong’s face was grim: “Focus on the mission first. Go to Yueping Village and find the mountain guide to lead us to Guanghuo Street.”

“Once we’ve completed the Princess’s task, we’ll return and wipe out that village!”

“Yes, my lord!”

…

Xu Yuan and Tian Jing were now inside Yueping Village.

…

To reach Yueping Village from the wild boar den, one must pass through a stone forest.

Towering, grotesque stones stood upright, pointing straight toward the sky.

Vines coiled around the stones like living serpents.

The vines themselves were ink-green, marked with strange scales-like patterns.

At their tips bloomed small, dark-yellow circular flowers—like countless serpent eyes.

Uncle Li had interrogated A Chong’s soul and understood this place: “This is the domain of a monstrous python demon.”

“Stay alert. Don’t provoke it.”

Drawing on last night’s experience, Uncle Li pulled out Ruan Tianye’s permit and held it high.

As the group entered the stone forest, a chilling cold seeped through their skin, drilling into their bone crevices.

After walking a short distance, someone suddenly cried out: “Look!”

Uncle Li followed the man’s finger and saw, deep within the stone forest, a colossal serpent head, as tall as a man, crouched motionless.

From its skull sprouted a ghost vine as thick as a man’s thigh, covered in clusters of round yellow flowers!

Uncle Li immediately aimed the permit at it—waited, but the monstrous python remained utterly still.

He cautiously stepped closer, then exclaimed in surprise: “Dead?”

Rong Rong joined him. The python was indeed dead; its massive body bore signs of violent struggle.

Ahead, the stone forest was in ruins—many grotesque stones had been shattered outright.

The subordinates merely murmured in wonder, but Uncle Li and Rong Rong exchanged a grave glance after careful inspection.

They stepped aside from their men and whispered: “What’s your take, Miss?”

“If you’ve already figured it out, why test me?”

Uncle Li said: “I’m not certain—but certain traces… resemble the Dragon Transformation Art.”

Rong Rong’s eyes flickered with excitement: “This monstrous python is of dragon lineage. Whoever killed it likely did so to consume its essence for cultivation.”

“Dissect the corpse. If something’s missing, we’ll know for sure!”

(End of Chapter)